1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to systems for controlled distribution of agriculture material into the ground, and particularly to an apparatus for conservation no till row crop planting operations.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conservation no till farming methods have recently become quite popular for planting in a variety of situations. No till farming permits a farmer to cut operation costs without sacrificing crop yields. Essentially, no till farming is the planting of seed, the dispensing of fertilizer, and the compaction of the ground adjacent the material dispensed all in one pass through the field. These operations were previously done in several passes through the field, one to till the ground, a second to plant the seed and perhaps others to introduce fertilizer or additionally compact the ground after planting. This required a great deal of labor time in making multiple passes through the field, as well as requiring additional vehicle fuel. Soil and moisture were also lost from the group itself because of the inefficient tillage, planting and compacting methods.
As the benefits of no till farming have been appreciated, attempts have been made to design implements which conserve soil, moisture, labor, fuel and other operating costs, while not sacrificing yields. The following United States patents, which are incorporated by reference herein, illustrate such devices:
______________________________________ Patent No. Patentee Issue Date ______________________________________ 3,507,233 Greig et al. 04/21/70 3,749,035 Cayton et al. 07/31/73 4,044,697 Swanson 08/30/77 4,333,534 Swanson et al. 06/08/82 4,377,989 Peterson et al. 03/29/83 ______________________________________
The patent to Greig et al. discloses an implement having a plurality of seed drills secured to longitudinally extending beams which are pivotally connected to the implement's frame at their forward ends. Seed or fertilizer is dispensed by each seed drill, but no means are provided for controlling the relative weight applied to each drill for controlling the force of penetration of the drill into the ground. In addition, no means are provided in Greig et al. for simultaneously raising all of the seed drills from the ground to transport the implement from field to field or along the highway.
The patents to Cayton et al., Swanson and Swanson et al. also show row crop planter apparatus having longitudnally extending row units which are pivotally mounted with respect to an implement frame so that the seed drill for each row is free to move generally vertically independently of other seed drills on the implement, but none of these patents disclose means for controlling the weight on each seed drill and thereby controlling the force of penetration of the drill into the ground. In addition, the supply of seed or fertilizer being dispensed by the implements of these patents is carried on the implement frames. As the seed and fertilizer are dispensed, the implement weight decreases accordingly so that during application, the weight of implement bearing down on the seed drills changes drastically, which necessarily changes the penetration force of the seed drills into the ground.
The patent to Peterson et al. discloses a conservation tillage row crop planter apparatus wherein an implement frame has a plurality of tillage units pivotally mounted to the frame and a plurality of planter units, one for each tillage unit, mounted rearwardly thereof. The tillage units are provided only to break and loosen the ground prior to seeding. The planter unit for each row carries a seed storage hopper thereon, so that as seed is dispensed, the weight of the seed hopper decreases, thereby decreasing the force of penetration on the seed drills of each planter unit.
The conservation no till apparatus of the present invention overcomes the stated shortcomings of the prior art. The present invention provides an implement with row crop planting units wherein the weight of each unit is adjustable to vary the force of penetration of the furrow opening tools thereon into the ground. This weight, once established, does not vary as seed and fertilizer are dispensed by each unit in its respective furrows because the supply of seed and fertilizer are supported separately from the units and the implement main frame. The present invention thus provides means for a more precise application of seed and fertilizer in a no till operation than was possible with prior art planting schemes.